Saling Close to the Wind - Beale

This is a remarkable book. It details how beginning in 2008 Philip Beale and his crew set sail from a small island in Syria on reconstruction of a Phoenician ship; his intention was to test a theory that the first circumnavigation of Africa had taken place in 600BC. It was the start of a twenty thousand mile journey, facing the threat of piracy, the treacherous seas around the Cape of God Hope and tn Atlantic marathon crossing lasting eighty-four days. Sailing Close to the Wind is both a modern-day adventure and the story of an almost forgotten civilization with an incredible maritime history.

"This achievement ranks along with the pioneers like Thor Heyerdahl and Sir Francis Chichester in Gipsy Moth"
Daily Telegraph

"The expedition around Africa might have been straight out of the pages of Kon Tiki"
Sunday Telegraph